The startling gaps in Australia's private health insurance cover

27 November 2017 - 1:48pm

There's a problem with Australia's private health insurance cover. In fact, only 55 per cent of the population have insurance covering general treatment, according to the latest Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) statistics.

That means roughly 12 million uncovered Australians pay full price if they need to visit a dentist, optometrist, chiropractor physiotherapist or other specialist. Do you have the cover you need? What are the risks involved if you don't?

Do you have the right health insurance cover?

Do I have the right health insurance?

Non-insurance is a problem throughout Australia, but perhaps equally worrying are the unexpected shortfalls in cover that have made news stories in recent times. These occur when people purchase health insurance and pay for private treatment, only to be told that it's not included in their policies and they won't be reimbursed.

Avoiding this is all about understanding what you're insured for. People often arbitrarily select a policy because it's cheap, or from a trusted provider and then assume that they'll be covered for almost anything.

Often this isn't the case, and as a result customers fail to see the value in their insurance when these shortfalls appear. Along with rising costs of living, misunderstandings like these may be part of the reason why 45 per cent of Australians don't have general treatment cover. That's why the question that needs to be asked isn't do I have health insurance, it's do I have the right health insurance?

There's a gap in Australia's private health insurance cover.

How can I make sure I'm properly insured?

When you're looking into purchasing health insurance or reviewing your cover your first call should be to a an experienced health insurance consultant. That's because the right consultant will help you to understand what you're purchasing, identify what you should be covered for, and find the best policy for you.

What's more, they'll advocate on your behalf with insurers, helping to ensure your claims are simple and successful. A lot of the reasons why Australians don't have sufficient private health insurance are due to these misunderstandings, and the resulting cover shortfalls.